Baseball Game Preview: Coronado Thunderbirds vs. Franklin Cougars

Coronado is 8-2 against Franklin since April of 2021 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Wednesday. The Thunderbirds will look to defend their home field against the Cougars at 6:30 p.m. Coronado is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 7.7 runs per game this season.

On Friday, Coronado needed a bit of extra time to put away Eastlake. They had just enough and edged out the Falcons 4-3. The victory was familiar territory for the Thunderbirds, who have now won three matchups in a row.

Kyle LaBranche

Batters Struck Out

04/04/25 vs Eastlake	3
03/29/25 @ Socorro	2
03/22/25 @ Eastwood	1
03/10/25 @ Franklin	1
02/27/25 vs Marshall	4

Coronado got a great performance from Kyle LaBranche as he pitched six innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off six hits. What's more, LaBranche posted three strikeouts, the most he's had since back in February.

At the plate, Ben Wilson was incredible, scoring two runs while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances. The team also got some help courtesy of Walt Mann, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with two RBI.

Meanwhile, Franklin lost 11-2 to Pebble Hills on Friday. The Cougars have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Franklin saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was KNOX REYES, who went 1-for-3 with one RBI.

Franklin's defeat dropped their record down to 6-16-1. As for Coronado, their win bumped their record up to 19-8.

Coronado skirted past Franklin 6-4 in their previous meeting back in March. Will the Thunderbirds repeat their success, or do the Cougars have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.